The press ombudsman found the publication of a blog calling for the disenfranchisement of white men amounted to hate speech.

Verashni Pillay, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post South Africa, has resigned from her position with immediate effect.

Her resignation follows the release of the findings of the press ombudsman that a blog published on the site was "malicious" and "discriminatory".

Andreij Horn, head of 24.com, a division of Media24, said editorial control over the site has been reassigned: "Ferial Haffajee, HuffPost SA's editor-at-large, and Pieter du Toit, the site's deputy editor, will take over the site's editorial management immediately until we have appointed a new editor. We have the utmost faith in their ability to lead the site through both the changes we are making to address the internal issues that made this situation possible in the first place, and the impact it had on society at large, the company, and its staff."

Pillay said: "I respect the office of the press ombudsman and have decided to tender my resignation. Thank you to Media24 for this opportunity and all the best to the team at HuffPost SA going forward."